Topic: Black Americans
Bishop John Hurst Adams was pastor at Seattle's First African Methodist Episcopal Church from 1962 to 1968 and a leader in the city's civil rights struggle. He moved to other cities and states after 1...
Nora B. Adams was an African American Seattle Public School principal who left more than $1 million in her estate to three of her major interests. She left $600,000 to the Seattle Public Schools Schol...
Today's labor union for Seattle's professional musicians is the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 76-493, and that cumbersome name reflects perfectly the organization's tangled and sometime...
Royal Alley-Barnes held many different job titles during a career in Seattle city government that spanned more than 40 years -- from senior budget analyst in the Office of Management and Budget to exe...
Ernestine Anderson launched her amazing career as a jazz singer while still a teenaged Seattle high school student back in the 1940s. By the 1950s she was an experienced performer who'd toured widely ...
Nettie Craig Asberry was an extraordinary, early African American resident of Tacoma who was known for her work in fighting racism and in helping to open doors for women. A founding member of the Taco...
Powell S. Barnett, a Seattle musician, baseball player, and community leader, was the organizer and first president of the Leschi Community Council. He was a leader in organizing the East Madison YMCA...
A half-decade prior to the Pacific Northwest's great rock 'n' roll eruption of 1959-1960 -- a period that saw a series of teenage groups (including the Fleetwoods, Frantics, Shades, Gallahads, Wailers...
Roberta Byrd Barr was an African American educator, civil rights leader, actor, librarian, and television personality. She was born in Tacoma and lived for much of her life in Seattle. She was a talen...
Robert A. Bass was one of Washington state's first African American school principals. He was an advocate for diversity and equal educational opportunity in the school district. He and his twin brothe...
Overton Berry, a kindly pianist who lived in Seattle from 1945 until his death in 2020, saw and did it all, from podunk lounge gigs to major jazz festivals, from one-nighters to years-long extended en...
Douglas Q. Barnett (1931-2019) was the founder of Black Arts/West and instrumental in the development of theater in Seattle's African American community during the 1960s. Black Arts/West opened on Apr...
Douglas Q. Barnett (1931-2019) was the founder of Black Arts/West and instrumental in the development of theater in Seattle's African American community during the 1960s. Black Arts/West opened on Apr...
Douglas Q. Barnett (1931-2019) was the founder of Black Arts/West and instrumental in the development of theater in Seattle's African American community during the 1960s. Black Arts/West opened on Apr...
In November 1845, George (1790?-1863) and Isabella James (c. 1809-1866) Bush and their five sons settle near Tumwater on a fertile plain that comes to be known as Bush Prairie. They and their party, w...
Manuel Lopes (1812-?), Seattle's first Black citizen, arrives in 1852. Lopes is a barber and his barbershop is the village's first Black-owned business. He plays the snare drum, and is known for his g...
In 1861, William Grose (1835-1898), African American pioneer, arrives in Seattle and becomes a successful businessman.
In about 1864, William Hedges (d. 1871) arrives Seattle. He later becomes the African American who owns the most property during the territorial years.
In 1864, Mathias Monet, an African American pioneer and native of Oregon, arrives in Seattle and opens Monet's Seattle Restaurant and Coffee Saloon opposite the Yesler, Denny and Company's Store.
During January 1874, a "colored" (African American) student attends the winter session of the University of Washington. Some white parents complain to the Board of Regents for allowing "colored" child...
On January 8, 1875, George Washington (1817-1905) and his wife Mary Jane file the plat that establishes the town of Centerville, soon to be renamed Centralia, in Lewis County in Southwest Washington. ...
In 1876, Thomas P. Freeman opens the Pioneer Variety Store at the corner of Yesler Way and 2nd Avenue in Seattle. He sells crockery, glassware, hardware, and new and used goods. Freeman, a shoemaker b...
In 1879, African American Al Freeman opens a boot and shoe store on 1st Avenue. His advertisement states, "Boots and shoes of all kind made to measure at reasonable prices. Repairing neatly, cheaply a...
In 1883, African American pioneers John Conna (1836-1921) and Mary Conna (1840-1907) arrive in the Federal Way area and settle on their 157 acre homestead. John Conna becomes the first black political...
In 1886, a Seattle group of African Methodist Episcopalians, served by travelling missionaries, begin meeting in each other's homes. They establish the First African Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1886, Charles H. and Eva Ellis Harvey come to Seattle. He becomes an early black contractor and employer. After living in Belltown for a brief time, they moved to a house on 2nd Avenue at the prese...
In 1886, Horace Cayton (1859-1940) comes to Seattle from Mississippi and by 1894 is publishing the Seattle Republican newspaper.
On August 17, 1888, Roslyn miners strike for an eight-hour day, and the Northern Pacific Coal Company brings in trainloads of Black miners as strikebreakers. To protect the strikebreakers and to intim...